Jorge Santini Padilla (born March 11, 1960) is a Puerto Rican

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who previously served as the

mayor of San Juan This is a list of mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico. List of mayors of San Juan Under the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (6) (5) See also * San Juan City Hall * San Juan government * Timeline of San Juan, Puerto Rico References {{Years ...

State Service

In 1975, Santini became a member of the United States Marines Air Cadets Corps. At present, he is

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the

Puerto Rico State Guard The Puerto Rico State Guard (PRSG) — es, Guardia Estatal de Puerto Rico— is the state defense force of Puerto Rico that operates under the sole authority of the governor of Puerto Rico who, in turn, delegates such authority to the Puerto Ric ...

, assigned to the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...

. On September 18, 2002, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

appointed Mayor Santini to serve on the

National Infrastructure Advisory Council The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) is a United States government advisory council, which advises the President of the United States on the security of information systems in banking, finance, transportation, energy, manufacturing, ...

. As a member of the State Guard, Santini has never served in the military.

Professional career

In 1982 he obtained his bachelor's degree with honors from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

, Río Piedras campus. In 1988 he was accepted as a member of the

Puerto Rico Bar Association The Bar Association of Puerto Rico (BAPR) or ''Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico (CAPR)'' is the bar association of Puerto Rico. It is the oldest professional association in Puerto Rico, and among the oldest bar associations in the world. The ...

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, and

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. He also presided the Attorney Association of the Faculty of Law at the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law ( es, links=no, Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico) is the school of law of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corpor ...

. Santini became a partner at the law firm of Miranda Cárdenas & Córdova where he specialized in medical malpractice suits. He began his public service in 1993, during

Pedro Rossello Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

's gubernatorial term, Santini was appointed as his aide in the areas of Health, Social Welfare, and Hiring, as well as serving as the Governor's Legal Aide. In 2007, he participated in the Summit of the Latin American Council in Honor of educational excellence. There the prize for educational excellence, a master's degree in educational management in Latin America and an honorary doctorate was awarded for commitment to education given by 16 universities, all in recognition of his work establishing the first municipal school system of Puerto Rico.

Political career

Senator: 1997–2001

In 1996, Santini decided to start a political career under the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was elected to the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

at the 1996 general elections representing the District of San Juan. During that term, he served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mayor of San Juan

Santini entered the race for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of San Juan in 1999 and challenged Senate President

Charlie Rodriguez Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the Charlie's Angels (franchise), ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Ba ...

in a PNP primary. Rodríguez had been the choice of the party leadership, but Santini prevailed in the primary. He went on to defeat Popular Democratic Party candidate

Eduardo Bhatia Eduardo Bhatia Gautier (born May 16, 1964) is a Puerto Rican attorney and politician. Bhatia is a former 15th President of the Senate of Puerto Rico and executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. Early life and educa ...

in the

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and sought reelection in 2004 defeating Bhatia for a second time. In his 6th year as Mayor of San Juan, Santini began inaugurating major projects such as the

San Juan Natatorium The San Juan Natatorium is an Olympic-level aquatic sports facility located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Located in San Juan's Parque Central (Central Park) the natatorium is regarded as the most advanced natatorium in the Caribbean and 4th in the ...

in 2006, the San Juan Golf Academy in 2007, a sports-oriented magnet school and a bilingual municipal magnet school, and San Juan's Ronald Reagan Autism-Specialized Day Care Center. In 2007, Santini was elected for a third term as Mayor of San Juan but was defeated in the 2012 San Juan mayoral election and left office on January 14, 2013. During his third term the municipality imposed a secret tax on properties in the city. Investigations into the scheme revealed that $1.3 million in revenue went missing. The municipal debt at the end of Santini's tenure had reached $18 million.

Senate of Puerto Rico

In 2017 Santini created Soto and Santini LLC a advisory group providing professional services for the

and various government agencies. In 2020 the office of ethics sued Santini for income he earned working for the Senate and the National Guard simultaneously.

Personal life

Santini married Irma Garriga on August 23, 1986. They have three children together: Odette (b. 1987), Jorge Andrés (b. 1996), and Amanda (b. 2003).

References

External links

Boletín Informativo con Biografía
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santini, Jorge 1960 births Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Living people New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians University of Puerto Rico alumni